The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Societies plans to organize a Workshop on Chemical, Biological, Radiological and Nuclear (CBRN) Emergency Preparedness, Response & Recovery in Vienna on December 5-9, 2016. The workshop aims to help the National Societies to get better acquainted with the specificities of an operation in this special kind of emergencies and disasters and enable them to address the humanitarian needs of the affected population according to their mandate.

Preparedness for a complex disaster including a nuclear disaster– Disaster drill by simulating a severe accident at the Genkai Nuclear Power Plant in Saga Prefecture –

2016/11/14

On October 10, 2016, a large-scale nuclear disaster drill took place in Saga Prefecture in cooperation with Fukuoka and Nagasaki Prefecture by simulating a severe accident at the Genkai Nuclear Power Plant in Saga Prefecture. If a nuclear disaster occurs, large-scale evacuations including sheltering in place are expected. During this large-scale drill, the public including community residents, social welfare facilities and schools participated in exercises for sheltering in place and evacuation and an exercise for radiation emergency medical care was also held.

Fukushima Disaster Prevention Fair 2016

2016/11/07

On October 15-16, 2016, Fukushima Disaster Prevention Fair 2016 was held at "Shikinosato" (Village of Four Seasons) in Fukushima City. Families with small children have few opportunities to learn about disaster prevention. This event was aimed at providing them with an opportunity to drop by the venue and see, touch and learn disaster prevention. This was the first disaster prevention fair which was organized and held by the Fukushima Prefectural Government, the JRCS Fukushima Chapter and a working committee for the fair.

The JRCS’s participation in the 3rd Asia Pacific National SocietiesDisaster Management Conference

2016/11/02

From September 21-23, 2016, the 3rd Asia Pacific National Societies Disaster Management Conference was held in Seoul, Korea under the theme: Towards Community Resilience. From the JRCS, a staff member participated in this conference. This conference was held based on the five-year strategy of the IFRC to discuss disaster management strategy in the Asia Pacific region.

The Japanese Red Cross Society (JRCS) held the FY 2016 First Meeting of Radiation Emergency Medical Care Advisors on July 21–22, 2016. The meeting was joined by physicians and radiological technologists working at Japanese Red Cross (JRC) hospitals, who have been assigned as radiation emergency medical care advisors (REMC advisors) by the JRCS. Some external specialists in radiation emergency medicine were invited to this meeting as guest speakers. The REMC advisors and the guests discussed how the JRCS should build its arrangements for relief activities in the event of a nuclear disaster.

Guide for safety management regarding staff living in an affected area in the event of a nuclear disaster

2016/05/20

The JRCS developed a "Guide for safety management regarding staff living in an affected area in the event of a nuclear disaster" (Guide) to be used by Director Generals of Japanese Red Cross facilities. The Guide clearly describes operations and considerations which need to be taken in order to secure the safety and security of JRCS staff and their families who live in an affected area and other JRCS staff who are dispatched from non-affected areas and continue their activities in the affected area. A pocket-sized leaflet, an annex to the Guide, was also prepared. The leaflet is for JRCS staff and titled "For protecting yourself and your family in the event of a nuclear disaster", explaining basic knowledge about radiation.

The 39th annual conference of the Society for Japanese Blood Programme

2016/02/17

The annual conference of the Society for Japanese Blood Programme (Society) was held on October 4-6, 2015 in Osaka City.The Society holds an annual conference with a theme to discuss a stable supply of safe blood products. The theme in Japanese for 2015 means: “For smiles to shine again”.
For the conference, the Society organized a workshop whose Japanese title means: “Toward new crisis management arrangements - Never forget the day. -“ Masahito Yamazawa, Director General, Disaster Preparedness Planning Task Force of Japanese Red Cross Society (JRCS) gave a lecture entitled “Development of JRCS Nuclear Disaster Guidelines for Preparedness, Response and Recovery”.

The Japanese Red Cross Society (JRCS) held the JRCS Second Meeting of Radiation Emergency Medical Care Advisors (FY 2015) on December 3-4, 2015. The meeting was joined by physicians and radiological technologists working at Japanese Red Cross hospitals, who have been assigned as radiation emergency medical care advisors (REMC advisors) by the JRCS. They discussed how the JRCS should build relief arrangements to prepare for nuclear disasters.

Law school students who study disasters and laws visited the NDRC

2016/01/18

On January 8, 2016, the Japanese Red Cross Society (JRCS) had 16 visitors (professors and students) from University of Pennsylvania Law School. The Red Cross Nuclear Disaster Resource Center (NDRC) explained the JRCS’s nuclear disaster preparedness and response to them. Their trip to Japan was part of the special course of the Law School titled “Disasters and the Law”. Attended by Prof. Eri Osaka of Toyo University who is currently studying at the University of Pennsylvania, they visited the Secretariat of the Nuclear Regulation Authority, and Fukushima Prefecture, which was affected by the Great East Japan Earthquake for field research.